Things are said one by one/
Before you know it’s all gone.

Todd Rundgren is no longer in love and he is trying to lessen the hurt while breaking up with his girlfriend. Things have changed but can we still be friends? Notice how he never says things are over or specifically makes a clear statement like “it is over between us”, he simply says it isn’t working out can we still be friends. It is kind of a cop-out line, and you wonder if Rundgren has any intention of remaining friends or if this is just a line to lessen the pain of a breakup. I think it is the latter.

Rundgren’s “Can We Still Be Friends” works because it sounds sad. Rundgren is capturing the sound of the sadness that occurs at the end of a relationship. He sounds defeated. Weary. He is a bit philosophical. And at the same time we never get the impression this was a great love, but it still hurts to end it. The sound is driven by the synthesizer: He mostly uses different settings on the synthesizer for different parts of the song, which is not something you hear often. Great background vocals too.

Can We Still Be Friends? Lyrics

We can’t play this game anymore, but
Can we still be friends?
Things just can’t go on like before, but
Can we still be friends?

We had something to learn
Now it’s time for the wheel to turn
Things are said one by one
Before you know it’s all gone

Let’s admit we made a mistake, but
Can we still be friends?
Heartbreak’s never easy to take, but
Can we still be friends?

It’s a strange sad affair
Sometimes seems like we just don’t care
Don’t waste time feeling hurt
We’ve been through hell together

La la la la, la la la la
Can we still be friends?
Can we still get together sometime?
We awoke from our dream

Things are not always what they seem
Memories linger on
It’s like a sweet sad old song

Songwriters: Todd Rundgren

Like two strangers/
Turning into dust.

Hope Sandoval and Mazzy Star have a very distinctive sound as displayed in “Into Dust”. It is depressing, mopey, lingering and introspective. I mean that in the best possible way. Their sound seems to be achieved through the use of echo, coupled with acoustic guitar, strings and Sandoval’s vocals.

A lot of bands use those same tools, but none create the unique sound that is Mazzy Star. There are not many singers who could hold our attention with a song that proceeds at this slow of a pace, yet we are enthralled.

Mazzy Star’s “Into Dust” is a song about the death of a relationship. Sandoval likens it to an actual death. It can feel that way at times; that is the appeal of the song. Is the death of a relationship so much different than the death of an individual? In both cases an entity is destroyed forever. (Of course, one is more final than the other, but why split hairs?). Mazzy Star can really set a mood and is one of the more underrated bands of the 90s.

Into Dust Lyrics & Meaning

Still falling, breathless and on again.
Inside today, beside me today.
Around, broken in two,
Till your eyes shed into dust.
Like two strangers turning into dust,
Till my hand shook with the weight of fear.

I could possibly be fading,
Or have something more to gain.
I could feel myself growing colder,
I could feel myself under your fate,
Under your fate.

It was you, breathless and torn,
I could feel my eyes turning into dust.
And two strangers turning into dust,
Turning into dust.

Written by David Roback/ Hope Sandoval

It’s just that I’m not in the market/
For a boy who wants to love only me.

Linda Rondstadt was a heartbreaker.

In “Different Drum” she tells this guy that he can’t see the forest for the trees and that their hearts beat to a different drum. (Just to rub it in she also tells him that every time he comes around she goes running). The guy wants to be her boyfriend, but Ronstadt is having none of that. She wants to date around. She tells him he is perfectly fine, but she needs more. She doesn’t want to be tied down to one man. So, she tells him goodbye.

Think how revolutionary it was for a woman to be singing this song in 1967. It still is not a theme we hear too often. Interesting that this is a summer of love song.

Ronstadt’s vocals on “Different Drum” are amazing and the melody is exceptional. I always wanted to hear a version without the harpsichord. It is such a difficult instrument to work into a pop or rock song perfectly. It is an overpowering instrument. This would be the Stone Poney’s only hit. After this song Ronstadt went on to a huge solo career.

Different Drum Lyrics

You and I travel to the beat of a diff’rent drum
Oh, can’t you tell by the way I run
Every time you make eyes at me Wo oh
You cry and you moan and say it will work out
But honey child I’ve got my doubts
You can’t see the forest for the trees

So, don’t get me wrong It’s not that I’m knockin’
It’s just that I’m not in the market
For a boy who wants to love only me
Yes, and I ain’t sayin’ you ain’t pretty
All I’m sayin’s I’m not ready for any person
Place or thing to try and pull the reins in on me
So Goodbye, I’ll be leavin’
I see no sense in the cryin’ and grievin’
We’ll both live a lot longer if you live without me
Oh, don’t get me wrong It’s not that I’m knockin’
It’s just that I’m not in the market
For a boy who wants to love only me

Yes, and I ain’t sayin’ you ain’t pretty
All I’m sayin’s I’m not ready for any person
Place or thing to try and pull the reins in on me
So Goodbye, I’ll be leavin’
I see no sense in the cryin’ and grievin’
We’ll both live a lot longer if you live without me

Songwriters: Michael Nesmith